Tales of Berseria: Laphicet's Compass

thingiverse

This is Laphicet's compass from Tales of Berseria, split into sections for printing on a standard 200mmx200mm bed printer. This is a functional gimbal compass: it is self-levelling and has a needle that points north. Most of the pieces have small slots in them for 9 gauge metal wire, which I used to assist in the assembly process (in addition to E6000 and epoxy as needed). The needle has slots for two neodymium magnets, which make it work as a functional compass needle. The magnets I used were these: https://www.magnet4sale.com/n52-5-16x1-neodymium-rare-earth-cylindrical-magnet/. Printing the needle with lightest settings possible will make it function better as a compass needle. I balanced the needle itself on a small aluminum point and put a very small amount of masking tape under one side to balance it for northern hemisphere usage. I used McMaster-Carr parts 6391K153 (x2), 6391K155 (x2), and 1570K22 for assembly. These are keyed shafts (which I cut with a dremel into four pieces) and bearings. To get the shaft to rotate smoothly in the bearings, I had to sand it down a fair bit. I reused a small bit of the shaft to make the aluminum pointed mount for the needle: this is important because the mount can't be ferromagnetic, or it'll throw off the needle. Cutting it to a point with my dremel was a long and painful process that likely would have taken 7 seconds if I had a proper tool. For finishing, I made use of XTC-3D, Modern Metals spray paint, Alclad Polished Brass paint, Molotow Liquid Chrome paint, Alclad Aqua Gloss sealant, sandpaper, elbow grease, and Liquitex acrylics for the faux-wood base. The details were done with spray paint and carefully applied stencils. The compass rose itself is a separate 9.25" acrylic circle.